Drain cam!
Not saying it was because of that, but... Monday night, when I got home from work, I discovered that my basement had a lake in it. A somewhat soapy lake. This is not a good sign. Rain- or groundwater seepage is rarely if ever soapy. So I look at the rafters. No sign of water leakage. I look at the laundry tub. It is dry, but the bottom is covered in a layer of ... well, you can guess. I ran some water into it, and the smell was unmistakable. :*(
Washed that out, using hot water and bleach. Ran the upstairs shower, flushed the toilet... no problem. Continued running the shower, ran the kitchen sink, flushed the toilet again... water began filling up the laundry tub. Turned off all the water... water continued filling the laundry tub, as it worked its way through all the pipes. And then gradually subsiding as the water drained out of the tub through the main line.
A textbook example of a partial blockage in the main line between house and city sewer. Called Roto-Rooter, and they wanted $248 to come fix it. So called Mr. Rooter, and they did it for $184. The guy ran the super-duper steel snake down the main line, said he felt something that felt like tree roots, and then said the line was clear, and opened the floor drain to empty my lake.
At which point, he treated me to the totally cool special service they offered. A drain cam! Basically a flashlight/digital camera combo at the end of a snake, they lower the thing into the drain, and you get a full color image of your entire drain! (Wisely, they only do this AFTER they've scoured it clean.)
The first interesting thing was the water in the drain... water running IN from a hole in the side. Which would explain why my drains run slower when it's raining. The pipe's already partially filled with groundwater. There were also a number of places where the pipe was broken, or missing small pieces. In one spot, the floor of the pipe was in the process of ripping up. But the problem was finally located almost all the way to the street... there was a sizeable section of pipe missing, and it was starting to press inward on the pipe. There were also severed tree roots in that section... the roots that had caused the blockage.
I was concerned that this meant the pipe would need to be replaced. But he said it was probably good for at least another ten years, just getting it roto-cleared every three or four years or so.
So, that's my excitement lately. What have you all been up to?
drained
ecstatic
chipper
exhausted
thoughtful
accomplished
cheerful
cynical
blah
enthralled
tired
pleased
busy
